Once Upon a Time
by quietbang
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a boy.


Once upon a time.

Once upon a time there was a boy.

Once upon a time there was a boy, and there was a cove, and a ramshackle house on the other side of the railroad tracks.

Once upon a time there was pain, and there was an alley, and a town that smelled of fear and shame and caribou piss.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time.<em>

_Once upon a time there was a boy._

_Once upon a time there was a boy, and there was a sky, and a red brick house in the rolling hills._

_Once upon a time there was loneliness, and there was a uniform, and a town that smelled like dust and gasoline._

_Once upon a time_

* * *

><p>Once upon a time there was a rock on which was written the secrets of the universe.<p>

There was an ocean, grey and crashing and powerful, so cold that it turned you blue.

Once upon a time there was a hiding place, a wooden shack on the oceans edge, a treasure cove of tattered comics and twice-darned socks.

Once upon a time, there was a girl, and in this place, they dreamed.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time.<em>

_Once upon a time there was adrenaline._

_There were horses galloping beneath the harsh desert sun, salty-bitter sweat dripping down their backs._

_Once upon a time there was a tree house that held a secret._

_Once upon a time, there was a boy, and in this place, they fought._

_Once upon a time. _

* * *

><p>Once upon a time there was music.<p>

Arpeggios of blue and green, the painstaking precision of touch.

Once upon a time there was inadequacy. A fear of opening oneself up, because you never know what might come out.

Once upon a time, the piano wept without a voice.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time there was a perfume bottle.<em>

_Buried in a sock drawer, deep beneath the boy-smell of sweat and bugspray, was comfort._

_Once upon a time there was a memory. In it a smooth-cheeked woman smiled and hugged, chestnut hair falling in laughing green eyes._

_Once upon a time, a mother loved._

_Once upon a time._

* * *

><p>Once upon a time there was a belt, worn and brown, with a rusting buckle.<p>

Once upon a time, a boy cried out at torn flesh, and fell down.

He whispered to his sister before it was her turn.

"Remember: They only hit until you cry. Don't be brave. Don't be stupid. Be a pussy. Pussies survive."

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time there was a belt, thick and black, with a polished silver buckle.<em>

_Once upon a time, a boy glared defiantly._

_He bit his lip as the buckle ripped across his back and reminded himself._

_"Don't give them what they want. Be a man. Men don't cry."_

_Once upon a time._

* * *

><p>Once upon a time there was confusion.<p>

A quiet child leaning into forbidden touch.

A Catholic child praying for salvation, and yet luxuriating in the sin.

Once upon a time there were lips, and smooth muscles beneath callused sea-bitten flesh, and there were over-alls quickly stripped off.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time there was shame.<em>

_An easy-going child reaching out in confusion._

_A Baptist child wondering at skin-hunger._

_Once upon a time there were lips, and perfume, and smooth breasts revealed under too-tight tank tops._

_Once upon a time._

* * *

><p>Once upon a time there was betrayal.<p>

The crunch of broken ribs, the snap of shins, the red mist of blood.

Once upon a time there was a dislocated shoulder, and a heart-breaking order.

Once upon a time there was abandonment.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time there was loneliness.<em>

_The easy smile of the prom king, the sparkling wit of the quarterback._

_Once upon a time there were walls, and they were closing in._

_Once upon a time there was an officer._

_Once upon a time._

* * *

><p>Once upon a time there was hunger.<p>

The hard, biting hunger that comes after three days of going without.

Once upon a time there was cold, and there was terror, and there was light.

Once upon a time there was a library, and there was an application, and there was an opportunity.

Once upon a time there was a door.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time there was a choice.<em>

_There was a choice, and there was a chance that was taken._

_Once upon a time there was a name, and a boy who lied about it, determined to make it on his own merits._

_Once upon a time there was a dream of being just like Han._

_Once upon a time. _

* * *

><p>Once upon a time there was competition.<p>

There was also brilliance, and the drive to succeed.

Once upon a time there was ego, because someone has to believe.

Once upon a time there was a struggle the boy had trained for all his life.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time there was a desert.<em>

_Beautiful in its despair, it stretched for cracked miles in every direction._

_Once upon a time there was a fire fight, and there was an order._

_Once upon a time, no-one got left behind._

_Once upon a time._

* * *

><p>Once upon a time, there was a job.<p>

There was a job, and there was beautiful theory, the twists and gnarls of space-time smoothing beneath his gaze.

Once upon a time there was a mistake.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time, t<em>_here was a cross._

_It hung round a soldiers neck, a whisper of a promise._

_Once upon a time there was a room, and it was full of officers._

_Once upon a time there was a plane, and there was a base, and it was fucking cold._

_Once upon a time. _

* * *

><p>Once upon a time, there was a prayer.<p>

Whispered before bidding that town goodbye forever, it spoke of penance, and of reconciliation.

Once upon a time there was a lie, and a cold, blinding hatred.

Once upon a time there was a stranger in a strange land, and a sentence served.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time, there was a plane.<em>

_There was a plane, and there was an officer, and there was a device._

_Once upon a time there was a mad scientist._

_Once upon a time there was a coin flip._

_Once upon a time._

* * *

><p>Once upon a time, there was a chair.<p>

There was a chair, and there was a doctor, and there was a device.

Once upon a time there was a soldier.

Once upon a time, he brought the solar system.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time, there was a death.<em>

_There was a death, and there was a bullet, and there was a beast._

_Once upon a time, chaos reigned._

_Once upon a time._

* * *

><p>Once upon a time, there was a siege.<p>

There was a siege, and there was an alien, and there was a bomb.

Once upon a time there was a soldier too courageous for his own damn good.

Once upon a time there was a dot, and then it was gone.

Once upon a time, something died inside.

Once upon a time, there was a resurrection.

Once upon a time.

* * *

><p><strong>Once upon a time, there was kiss.<strong>

**Harsh and demanding, rasped chin on rasped chin, chapped lips taking without mercy.**

**Once upon a time, there was trembling.**

**The vibrations of adrenaline and amphetamine turning electric.**

**Once upon a time, there was a bed, and there was a soldier, and there was a scientist.**

**Once upon a time. **

* * *

><p><strong>AN So, what did you think? I'm thinking of making this a series, and of doing little stories like this for other characters and relationships in the gate'verse. Leave a review and suggest who I should do next- Daniel? Ronon? Teyla? Let me know.**

**Thanks so much for reading, you just made my day. :D **

**And while you're at it, through some love the way of that sexy little box, won't you? It's cold in Canada, we need your love to keep us warm. ;) **


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